On The Glories of Summer and Reading in May….

by cirtnecce on May 6, 2015

Aha! Here is May and my least favorite season has begun – Summers! How I hate thee! When I was in school, we used to get two months off, because of the blazing heat made going to school quite impossible; that atleast gave this season a saving grace. But as an adult, there are no such deliciously long vacation, only the dry, unforgiving burning earth and the effort to live life as normally as possible in such pleasant conditions!! To think there are some people who actually eulogize about Indian Summers….they are only worth eulogizing when you are sitting in cozy cottage way up in Himalayas!

Anyway, I can continue in this vein, but that will not cut short this weather, so bear it I will; though I absolutely refuse to be stoic about it! Moving on to other items of discussion, the big fat Indian wedding is finally over. Was it nerve wracking? Absolutely! Did I have fun? Absolutely! Had a blast! It was wonderful meeting old friends, reviving old relations and generally merry making with people you like and love! But now that it is over, I must confess, I am really glad to be back to my more sedate pursuits. I came back late Sunday, and my reading has resumed enough vigor to finally give me hope!

Speaking of reading, Reading Plans for the last couple of months have become a farce. I have barely been able to read anything and all my books from March and April are now carried over in May. Reading for last two months had become more of an in-between activity, instead of the main event. However, now that things are slowing down, I am hoping (fingers crossed) I will be able to resume significant momentum in finishing nearly a dozen unread/half read stuff. I do have an interview looming for which I need to prepare (Yup! Only I will apply for jobs that require hard core studying!) especially stuff like Research Methodology and Six Sigma principles, but I am not going to lose sleep over it and hopefully this prep, should not be too much of a herculean task, that takes me away from my books too much!

So what am I finally reading in May? Well, like I said, I continue with books left over from last two months, but there are one or two additions! (Ya! Trust me to take on more, before I finish what I already have on my plate!) I am doing the Beowulf Read Along with Cleo. I am so loving this poem, this paean of all that is brave and virtuous! I am also doing theGone with the Wind Read Along all through May-August with Connie. When I read it as a teen, I did not like it. When I re-read it last year, I seem to like it better, therefore it made sense to try and read it a third time and discover if there are some nuances I have missed (I have already discovered a few). Finally, I have been neglecting my Reading England Project grievously over the last couple of weeks, so I had to finally start some kind of remediation and have decided to read Howard’s End by EM Forester this month!

That’s all for today folks! I know I promised some pictures of grand mad wedding and the official photographers assure me that it will be delivered by this Saturday. Hopefully my next post will be an onslaught of Indian Wedding pandemonium!

P.S. Cleo….the bride did dance, but she did not prepare, so it was all impromptu!

Ah, I keep forgetting that India is in the northern hemisphere! What a fool! 😉 What about along the coast? Does the water give anyone any relief? It’s funny that I never hear about India’s coastlines in a touristy scenic sense ……

That is so wonderful that the wedding went off so splendidly. I always envy cultures which have such close family ties. In North America, friends seem to come first and then family. It’s weird. I hope the impromptu bride dance worked well, or at least will be something that can never be forgotten! 🙂

I had to look up Research Methodology and Six Sigma principles and I’m still not sure what they are. Are you sure you want to look for that type of job? I think you need to read Thoreau’s Walden to set yourself straight or at least get some balance. 😉

I’m on book-overload too. I planned to get lots of reading done tonight, but all I did was socialize. I tend to talk with people when they’re around instead of going off in my little corner and reading like I should. How silly of me ….. 😉

I can’t believe that you’re reading Gone With the Wind for a third time! It’s my second time but I’m only reading it because I can’t remember anything about it from the first time and I have the movie stuck in my head and I’d like to get it out. And, of course, the book is like a child to Corinne, so I’d really like to hold her baby. Ha ha! In any case, too many books and my brain is unfocused. Wish me luck, as I do you, because I’ll need it.

The only place for relief during the blazing heat of Indian planes are the Himalayas….the beaches are equally bad, though they kind of start becoming more cooler with the onset of Monsoons, which will happen in about 2 months; but the heat on the planes rage on! It is really funny that the coastline is never mentioned vis-a-vis India tourism, because we do have some lovely and exotic beaches….You can go for hedonistic party type thing in Goa or retire to peaceful French colonial settings in Pondicherry or visit the absolutely mesmerizing beauty of the islands of Andaman and Nicobar.

Indian weddings equates to more the merrier….so yes….the melting pot was a blast! The Bride did an impromptu dance so did the groom and so did I and couple of other cousins…we were all so confident of our dancing capabilities, that we eschewed practiced performance…the result was not quite bollywood, but still it was FUN! Friends are kind of important, because we can be stuck with cookie family. but we ca choose our friends. As long as their is a positive nourishing support system, I think it works!

Don’t judge me ….I do Six Sigma and Big data research everyday …its my job and I am seeking an advancement so I am trying to kind of learn up on Six Sigma Level II….I must confess (hang my head in shame!) I do love the job…I love re-engineering and project managing through hardcore models! But I will for sure look up Thoreau’s Walden to get some alternative perspective 🙂

Socializing is kinda of fun…and it does take a toll on reading…ask me, my last four weeks were like that!

The only reason I decided to re-read GWTW is because my last re-read kind of made it way more palatable than my first read and I saw many things which i missed! I still don’t like Scarlet going on and on about Ashley, but I am discovering other redeeming factors about the book! I agree….this is Connie’s baby…she is completely Mitchellized!

First of all, good luck with the interview. I have no idea what Six Sigma entails but I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you.

Summer is brutal here as well so I sympathize. People say it should be rainy season by now but the seasons are all messed up. I’ll be glad for some rain. And a cabin in the Himalayas sounds good but only short – term. 🙂

Have fun with GWTW. I loved the book and the movie too.

Glad to know you had fun at the wedding. Congrats to the new couple. Looking forward to the pictures.

Delia …thank you so much for the wishes…I need all the luck I can get for the interview. Six Sigma is very simply put a project method to reduce defect and raise accuracy to 99.997% exact! I believe that the medical industry functions on 10 Sigma ….sorry did not mean to snow you with Project Management crash course 🙂 You would know how we all feel about Summers and rains here do not make it better. It just turns the dry heat into humid heat, which is even more eeks! A cabin in Himalayas is my ultimate fantasy…I love Himalayas in Winter too….its the plains I cannot tolerate!! 😦 Also a big Thank You on behalf of my cousin and his wife! i will post pictures asap!

Ian…we should really start a club…you know keep each other’s motivation up through summers and keep telling each other that this too shall pass! 🙂 I have read very little of EM Forster so I am curious about this work…will keep you posted on my progress!